The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has issued relief relating to product disclosure requirements for investment strategy choices within superannuation funds.
Policy Statement 184: Superannuation: Delivery of product disclosure strategies applies to trustees that allow flexibility in the selected investment strategy, where members’ money is invested in accessible financial products such as managed funds.
According to ASIC director of policy and research Mark Adams, the policy clarification has been anticipated for some time, after first being flagged when the Financial Services Reform Act (FSRA) was introduced. “When FSR was introduced, the Government gave it a longer transition period — it will first bite on July 1, 2007,” he said.
As it stands, most providers of superannuation funds incorporating non-super platform products provide a broader Product Disclosure Statement covering their own platform, along with separate information statements for the underlying products, provided by the issuers.
Adams said that some have argued in the past that the quality of this information is sometimes questionable.
From July 1, next year, trustees have the added option of preparing the product disclosure information for the underlying investment strategy themselves. This was not allowed prior to the relief.
The aim is a “more precise and targeted disclosure, as though you were investing directly”, Adams said. “Either way, [the trustee] is relying on assistance from the product issuers.”
